Quarry infirmary and surgery, 220m north west of Quarterwall Cottages, Lundy

List Entry Summary

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Name: Quarry infirmary and surgery, 220m north west of Quarterwall Cottages, Lundy

List entry Number: 1016026

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County: Devon

District: Torridge

District Type: District Authority

Parish:

National Park: Not applicable to this List entry.

Grade: Not applicable to this List entry.

Date first scheduled: 10-Jun-1998

Date of most recent amendment: Not applicable to this List entry.

Legacy System Information

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System: RSM

UID: 30353

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Monument

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Reasons for Designation

Lundy is a small, steep sided island in the Bristol Channel, 16m north of
Hartland Point, north Devon. Aligned north-south, it is 6km long by 1km wide
and supports a predominately moorland vegetation. The 100m high cliffs and
tabular form give it a striking appearance, visible in clear weather from
parts of south west England and south Wales.
Lundy's remoteness and (until the 19th century construction of the Beach Road)
its inaccessibility, combined with a lack of shelter and cultivable soils, has
meant that it has escaped more recent occupation or development. It therefore
preserves a remarkable variety of archaeological sites from early prehistory
(c.8000 BC) onwards, representing evidence for habitation, fortification,
farming and industry. There are also archaeological remains in the waters
surrounding the island - over 150 shipwrecks are already recorded. Most of the
island's archaeology is well documented from detailed survey in the 1980s and
1990s.

The extraction of stone for various purposes has been practised in England
during most periods from the Neolithic onwards. The exploitation of granite
is comparatively recent, with its resistence to impact and weathering being
its main virtue. Used for buildings and, in the 20th century, roads, the
granite quarries of the south west are of particular note.
The infirmary and surgery survive well as an integral part of this quarry
complex. Together with the quarry, they provide sufficient detail to enable
precise reconstruction of the workings of a stone quarrying operation during
the late 19th century.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes two buildings which functioned as an infirmary and
surgery for the workers at the Lundy Granite Company's quarry on the east side
of Lundy. The quarry was active between 1863 and 1868 when the business went
into receivership. The buildings are located in an earlier enclosure which has
the remains of a small building of medieval date on the northern side. The
enclosure was reused as a garden and there is a well between the infirmary and
the surgery.
The infirmary building is a ruin surviving up to the eaves. It has two
interior divisions and a fireplace. Some 25m to the east is a small ruin which
was the surgery. This building is now visible in the form of earthen banks.
The buildings were constructed in an earlier enclosure of which the northern
side survives as a stone revetted turf bank. In places this wall is only a
line of orthostats. The wall once contained a ploughed field and narrow ridge
and furrow survives in the northern half. On the north side and placed in the
line of the wall are the remains of a small medieval house which remains
visible as an earthwork which measures 10m by 8m.
The enclosure was reused as a garden area for the infirmary. The upper main
incline for the quarry comes to the top of the cliff and meets the enclosure
wall in its south east corner.
The monument is associated with the quarry and the two blocks of ruined
cottages to the south. Each of these features is the subject of a separate
scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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